The end of Chopin’s “Awakening” was unexpected to me. I had hoped that Edna had a happy ending by getting a divorce and ending up with Robert, but instead we are left with tragedy and lack of closure. Despite taking place in the late 19th century, I thought that Edna’s tumultuous love life was weirdly “before its time,” which I guess is obvious considering it is a story of a woman taking back her agency and doing what she desires despite convention. From a modern angle however, it is clear what happened in this story:: A married woman gets “ghosted” by her side piece twice, won’t leave the man she is with, and has another side piece to replace the first one when he leaves for Mexican excursion. Despite all this unconventionality, there are many men and women like Edna and her counterparts, who freely live without conventions in modern romances. A driving factor in Edna’s malaise or sadness throughout the novel is Robert’s decisions to leave and not be together with her. Robert has self respect and can’t live his life a side piece, and Edna’s marriage complicates his feelings for her. He walks away whenever things get too serious between them, and Edna spends her time waiting for letters from him, reading other’s letters from him, and thinking of him. It is clear how Robert’s absence takes a toll on Edna’s mental health. Her behavior makes me think of how in modern times, people act similarly: when you are suddenly ghosted by someone, you want to check their profile, hear about what they are texting and saying to your friends, wonder what went wrong, etc. Ghosting drives people to essentially do emotional self harm and drive themself crazy over someone who they are infatuated with. The second time Robert “ghosts” Edna, it is much more personal and heartbreaking to her. Right when she thought they were becoming closer than ever and healing her old wounds, he disappears from her life again. At this point, her mental health has taken a great toll over time as well as from the immediate disappointment in the aftermath. Edna is exhausted of emotional energy and is driven to end her life. Of course there were many driving circumstances in her life and desire for agency which led to this, however Robert’s “ghosting” seemed like the nail in the coffin to me. Chopin’s depiction of mental health, “ghosting” partners, cheating/emotional cheating are, in my opinion, extremely modern for their time. Here is an article which helped me make this connection. https://www.msn.com/en-in/health/other/ghosting-rejection-and-more-how-modern-dating-can-take-a-toll-on-mental-health/ar-AA1Wrm5e
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